The Tampa Bay Rays have confirmed their return to Tropicana Field next season in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Rays played their home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa in 2025 due to damage from Hurricane Milton in October 2024.
“We are excited to return home to Tropicana Field in April and once again join our fans and neighboring businesses in downtown St. Petersburg to celebrate the return of Rays baseball,” team CEO Ken Babby said in a statement Thursday.
The team made several improvements to the 25,000-seat stadium that opened in 1990, including an expanded main video board, new video screens behind home plate and along both foul poles, a new sound system and refreshed suite interiors.
The Rays were 41-40 at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. They sold out 61 games and drew a total of 786,750 fans. Tampa Bay finished 77-85 overall.
Playing in an outdoor stadium instead of the domed Tropicana Field led to weather problems. The Rays had 17 rain delays over 16 games totaling nearly 18 hours.
Hurricane Milton left the roof of Tropicana Field in tatters. The city of St. Petersburg spent $22.5 million to install a new Teflon-coated fiberglass roof. Initial estimates of the total cost of repairs and renovations were more than $50 million.
–Field level media
